Artist Amy Zane returns to the Kalamazoo Mall - and her original location

KALAMAZOO, MI – When Amy Zane closed down her store in
downtown Kalamazoo in 2008, she had no idea she'd be back.

"It had gotten too big; it was overwhelming," said Zane of
Fervor Art to Wear.

In the intervening years, she said, she got married, had
two children and continued making her hand-crafted jewelry.

Then, when she walking through the Plaza building on her way
to drop off some jewelry at Earthly Delights earlier this fall, a store owner asked, "Your old
spot's open. Are you coming home?"

"'You know what? I think I am,'" Zane said she told her. "I
just knew it was time."

It took six weeks from making the decision to Amy Zane Store
and Studio having its soft opening earlier this month at 157 S. Kalamazoo Mall, said
Zane. A grand opening is planned for the December Art Hop.

"It just feels right in here," said Zane of the space, which
still has the wood- and-mosaic-inlaid floors she helped lay nine years before.

This
time, she said, she moved her entire studio into the shop, so that if customers
don't see what they want in the display cases, she can make it for them right
there.

In addition to her own jewelry -- stones and minerals combined
in natural settings -- Zane is selling the work of seven other local
artists, including potter Cathy Green, photographer Fran Dwight, metalworker
Jon Reeves, husband and wife wood carvers D.M. Wood Art and painters Kathy
Kreager, Lisa Olivarez and Tanya Nielsen.

"Kalamazoo is a hidden artist's mecca," said Zane, who grew
up attending Gull Lake schools and graduated from the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center and the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor. "It's a hidden gem. There are more artists per capita here than in bigger cities. Everyone has a creative streak."

Of the Mall's growth since she was last a store owner downtown, Zane said, "It's
unbelievably changed. It looks fantastic."

While not everyone enjoys ending up back where they started, Zane said it feels like coming home.

"I just love Kalamazoo," said Zane, who also has lived in
San Francisco, where she first learned to make jewelry, and New York. ""I had
to leave it to figure out how awesome it is."

Yvonne Zipp is a business reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. You can reach her at yzipp@mlive.com or 269-365-8639.